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Young PE Students Learn to Surpass MVPA Fitness Goals While Self-Managing Effort

First and Second-Grade Students Display Understanding of Healthy Heart-Rate-Raising Effort with Help of PE Heart Rate Monitors

Students at Goose Bay Elementary School (Wasilla, Alaska) are already mastering important fitness elements including exercising at an elevated heart rate.

Goose Bay PE teacher Nancy Blake introduced the IHT ZONE wrist heart rate monitor and Spirit System assessment software to her first and second-grade students at the beginning of the year. The early returns on her investment have surpassed her most optimistic expectations. Read More

MVPA
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Minutes of MVPA Matter Most as PE Students Develop Key Exercise Habits

Based on Centers for Disease Control and SHAPE America guidelines and research that highlights the relationship between fitness and academic development, IHT focuses on exercise at an elevated heart rate as the key physical education metric to improve student cardiovascular fitness.

Academic research shows conclusively that exercise at an elevated heart rate correlates to increased longevity, improved cognitive performance, and self-regulation and classroom functioning among children. The following studies provide each demonstrate the benefits that exercise – and exercise at an elevated heart rate – have on student development:

  • Ulrik Wisløff study concluding that even a single weekly bout of exercise at high intensity reduces the risk of cardiovascular death;
  • Shih-Chun Kao study linking academic and cognitive improvement to both aerobic and muscular fitness; and
  • April Bowling research finding that exercise at an elevated heart rate delivers benefits to students with complex behavioral disorders.

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Students Improve Longevity and Academic Readiness Through Exercise at an Elevated Heart Rate

Research Correlates Exercise at an Elevated Heart Rate to Benefits that Include Improved Cognitive Performance

IHT designed the Spirit System to focus students on minutes of exercise at an elevated heart rate because academic research shows conclusively that exercise at an elevated heart rate correlates to increased longevity, improved cognitive performance, and self-regulation and classroom functioning among children.

There are different philosophies about the key fitness metrics in evaluating fitness activities such as step counts, time to run a given distance, calories burned, and minutes of elevated heart rate. Our philosophy of focusing on minutes of elevated heart rate aligns with the Center for Disease Control’s 2008 Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans1 standards which recommend:

  • “children and adolescents aged 6 to 17 years should have 60 minutes (1 hour) or more of physical activity each day” and
  • “most of the 60 or more minutes a day should be either moderate- or vigorous-intensity aerobic physical activity and should include vigorous-intensity physical activity at least 3 days a week.”

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flipped wednesday
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‘Flipped Wednesday’ Puts PE Students in Charge of Workout Creation

Two years ago, Oskaloosa (Iowa) Middle School PE teacher Betsy Luck flipped her teaching philosophy and challenged her students to create lessons that helped them increase the time they spend exercising at an elevated heart rate.

Students studied various elements of workouts on their own and then demonstrated their mastery while Luck observed and made suggestions as necessary. Her “Flipped Wednesday” continues today with students continuing to develop the skills they’ll need to create fitness-enhancing workouts both during and away from school. Read More

elevated
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Students Develop Lifetime Skill of Exercising at an Elevated Heart Rate

Students can maximize the health benefits of physical education by maximizing the time they spend exercising at an elevated heart rate during class.

Wearable fitness devices provide users with a wealth of information ranging from heart rate to steps to calories burned during exercise. IHT developed its wrist-based heart rate monitor – the IHT Zone – specifically for school use.

Throughout a physical education class workout, a student can see their individual heart rate and the heart rate zone (resting, moderate or vigorous) in which they are exercising. Immediately following the workout, students receive an email showing their heart rate data, including a calculation of minutes spent exercising at an elevated heart rate, a key tenet of the Centers for Disease Control’s guide to adolescent fitness. Read More